Bad movies are a dime a dozen. If we’re looking at the big picture, they’re far more common than great or even “good” movies. For the most part, these films wither away and disappear into obscurity, never to be seen or heard of again - that’s just how the cookie crumbles in Hollywood.
Sequels, much like mediocre films, are also very common. In fact, they are absolutely dominating at the box office; the highest-grossing movies of 2022 were either sequels or based on popular IPs. 2023 has seen no shortage of sequels from John Wick: Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, just to name a few.
Update August 8, 2023: This article has been updated with even more critically trashed films that managed to generate sequels.
Hollywood is a money-making business, and sequels are a safe bet, especially if the first movie is well-received and generally successful. But occasionally, a genuinely awful movie will slip through the cracks and get an unwanted follow-up that no one asked for. It doesn’t happen often, but here are 20 critically-panned movies that never should have got a sequel but somehow did anyway.
20 Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)
When Paul Blart: Mall Cop was released in 2009, it became the bane of every mall security guard’s existence. The film stars Kevin James as the titular Paul Blart, a mild-mannered mall cop who must protect his mall when it's overrun by a gang of criminals. Although the family comedy was poorly received by critics, it was a meme sensation and a pretty big success for Columbia Pictures, earning close to $200 million dollars at the box office.
It was no surprise, then, when a sequel was announced. But unfortunately, it was a little too late. Paul Blart 2 was released in 2015, six years after its predecessor. Its window of popularity had passed, and the movie sank at the box office.
19 Ghost Rider (2007)
Before Kevin Feige revolutionized the MCU, Marvel characters really struggled to gain footing in the world of superhero movies. The success of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man series resulted in a number of fan-favorite Marvel heroes getting the film treatment, with results ranging from mediocre to flat-out bad. One of the worst offenders was 2007s Ghost Rider, which starred Nicolas Cage as the titular anti-hero.
The film currently sits at 27% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a slightly better audience score of 47%. Despite the poor reviews, the movie made a profit at the box office. For the sequel, Sony hired the filmmakers behind the kinetic Crank franchise and tried to really lean into the craziness of the comics. It was an admirable attempt at correcting course, but unfortunately, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance proved to be another critical and commercial failure for the studio and was even more poorly received than its predecessor.
18 Suicide Squad (2016)
2016's Suicide Squad rode in on a wave of hype thanks to some impressive trailers and a stacked cast that included star Margot Robbie bringing fan-favorite character Harley Quinn to life. The finished film was a disaster, and one of the worst superhero movies ever made, and the film received a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, with many commenting on how the film was clearly hacked to pieces in the editing room. Yet that did not deter audiences as the movie was a box office hit and grossed $747 million worldwide and even walked away with an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
While the DCEU in which Suicide Squad continued on, a sequel did not come until 2021 with the release of The Suicide Squad. Warner Bros. hired James Gunn to helm the project, which was funny as Suicide Squad was first greenlit as an answer to Marvel's success with Guardians of the Galaxy. The Suicide Squad was a much better film than its predecessor and earned 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yet the film likely had to carry the stench of its predecessor, which hurt its box office performance, as to was the decision to release it on HBO Max alongside its theatrical release. This is arguably the only sequel that audiences are lucky to get, despite how bad the first movie was.
17 Leprechaun (1993)
Jennifer Aniston made her film debut in the 1993 horror movie Leprechaun, where Warwick Davis plays a vengeful leprechaun looking for his stolen gold. While originally intended to be a straight horror movie, reshoots geared it more towards comedy when producers recognized how cheesy it was. Despite the turbulent production, the million-dollar movie was a minor box-office success, grossing $8 million.
Leprechaun was largely panned by critics upon release and currently sits at 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. Austin Chronicle critic Marc Savlov referred to the movie as a “complete and utter waste of perfectly good film stock.” Nevertheless, the film had a fervent cult following and spawned a whopping seven sequels, with the most recent one released in 2018.
16 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
In the era of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Man of Steel, it was no surprise that studios were racing to make their own comic book movies and get in on the success. TNMT was an already established franchise with a fan base, and so Nickelodeon, alongside Paramount Pictures and numerous other production companies, came together to make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, directed by Jonathan Liebesman.
The film was met with negative reviews from critics and audiences alike and holds a score of just 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not only was the film poorly received, but cast members have spoken about the poor treatment they received during the film. Alan Ritchson, who played Raphael, has spoken openly about how he felt the stars playing the turtles were not treated the same as the other cast members, often working long hours, being banned from press interviews, and not even receiving tickets to the premiere. Despite this, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows was released two years later, gaining largely negative reviews once again (and apparently continuing the trend of treating their actors poorly, too).
15 Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland was a highly anticipated movie. It was a box office smash hit, grossing $1 billion worldwide although the reviews were not too kind as it received a 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, and since then the critical reaction has gone down quite a bit, and most now attribute its box office success to being the first movie to cash in on the 3D craze from Avatar, which was released three months prior.
While it was not the first of its kind, it did help kick off Disney's trend of remaking its animated classic, which continues to this day. Disney also saw a chance to try and make Alice in Wonderland a franchise and released a sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass. The sequel arrived in 2016, six years after the original, and nobody was clamoring for it as it grossed $77 million in the United States and $299.5 million worldwide, a drastic drop off from the first film. It also received negative reviews from critics and sits at 28% on Rotten Tomatoes.
14 Daredevil (2003)
Before Charlie Cox took on the role of Matt Murdock, the role belonged to Ben Affleck. Daredevil, directed by Mark Steven Johnson, received below-average ratings from critics, often being criticized for its lack of originality and general dullness, leaving it with a score of 43% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Whilst this is certainly not the lowest-ranking film on the list, it wasn't nearly as successful as it should have been to be able to carry future installments. Unfortunately, 20th Century Fox didn't get the memo on that one, and so green-lit Elektra, a spin-off sequel featuring Jennifer Garner reprising her role. It holds 11% on Rotten Tomatoes and likely costs more to make than it made back at the box office. Garner is set to reprise her role as Elektra in Deadpool 3, possibly giving her one last shot with the character.
13 Garfield: The Movie (2004)
Bill Murray, who voiced the famous cat in the 2004 movie, has stated that he only starred in Garfield: The Movie because he confused the film’s director, Joel Cohen, with Joel Coen, one-half of the critically-adored directing duo. Whether this is actually true, it’s certainly funnier than the movie itself. And critics would probably agree.
The film sits at a measly 15% on Rotten Tomatoes but grossed $200 million at the global box office. A sequel - subtitled A Tale of Two Kitties - was released two years later, with Bill Murray and much of the original cast returning. Unsurprisingly, the sequel was just as poorly-received as the first and scored a 12% on Rotten Tomatoes. A third film was originally planned but was scrapped when Two Kitties failed at the box office. However, a new animated film is on the way, with Chris Pratt set to star as the lazy, lasagna-loving feline.
12 Mortal Kombat (1995)
Despite the Mortal Kombat games being a massive success, attempts at translating the games to the big screen haven't always gone very well. Whilst the Mortal Kombat film does a decent job at recreating the atmosphere of the beloved games, critics commented on its poor plot and even poorer dialogue. The film currently has a 47% on Rotten Tomatoes, and like Daredevil, was not received well enough to carry a franchise any further.
However, keen to give the adaptation another go, Mortal Kombat Annihilation was released two years later, and has a shockingly low rating of just 4% on Rotten Tomatoes. It is generally considered the be one of the worst sequels of all time, if not one of the worst films of all time.
11 The Gallows (2015)
The Gallows is a found footage, micro-budget horror movie that follows a group of high school theater students who become victims of a vengeful spirit. Like many cheaply-made Blumhouse movies of the era, The Gallows was ruthlessly criticized by critics and audience members alike, currently sitting at 14% and 22%, respectively.
Even though the film was poorly received, it was an overwhelming success, making $45 million dollars against a mere $100,000 budget. A sequel was immediately greenlit. Although the directing duo did away with the much-criticized found-footage angle for something more traditional, The Gallows Act II was nevertheless universally panned when it was released in 2019.
10 Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011)
Atlas Shrugged: Part I is based on the massively popular but often critically-maligned book of the same name that has ignited controversy and passionate discourse many times since its initial release in 1957. The political novel is heavy on philosophy and ideological discussion, set in a dystopian United States that is crumbling under the weight of a controlling government.
Given the book’s overly-philosophical bend and rather basic central plot - which focuses on a railroad tycoon trying to keep his company afloat during an economic crisis - many considered the story to be unfilmable, but that didn’t stop executives from trying, given the book’s already massive audience.
Atlas Shrugged was released in 2011, and despite a rather favorable Rotten Tomatoes audience score (69%), the movie was panned by critics (it currently sits at 12%). Furthermore, the movie was a box office bomb, making only a quarter of its $20 million budget back. Still, two sequels were made: Atlas Shrugged: Part II and Who is John Gait, which currently sits at 4% and 0%, respectively.
9 A Haunted House (2013)
Spoof comedies are nothing new, but they are notoriously hard to pull off. But that didn’t stop Marlon Wayans from writing and starring in his own spoof on the Paranormal Activity films, appropriately titled A Haunted House.
Marlon Wayans previously found success in this genre with the first two Scary Movies, which itself led to a number of painful sequels and a spin-off franchise that includes Superhero Movie, Epic Movie, and Date Movie - some of the worst-reviewed movies of all time. While A Haunted House isn’t nearly as bad as those movies, it’s 9% Rotten Tomatoes score proves it isn’t very good, either.
Still, the movie made close to $60 million on a $2.5 million budget, which is the kind of low-risk, high-return effort that gets movie executives salivating. A sequel was released the following year and earned equally negative views, and made half as much money as the first.
8 Joe Dirt (2001)
Sometimes, critics get it wrong. In some people's eyes, Joe Dirt is a certified classic. However, the film’s 9% Rotten Tomatoes score would have you believe otherwise. The movie follows Mr. Dirt, a redneck janitor who hits the road in search of his long-lost parents. It’s the type of one-and-done story that doesn’t demand a sequel, and considering it wasn’t a huge box-office smash, Hollywood left it alone.
But that changed in 2015 when a sequel - Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser - was released on Crackle, of all places. The general reaction to the news was: why? The reviews for the unwanted sequel were just as harsh, but this one arguably deserved it.
7 Planes (2013)
Planes is the Disney spin-off of the Pixar film Cars, which is all about... well, planes. Already one of Pixar's least popular franchises, Cars was an ambitious project to choose to make a spin-off from. Combined with the fact Pixar did not actually make Planes, it comes as no surprise that the film was generally badly received, with a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite its negative reviews, the film did well enough at the box office to warrant another, and so Planes: Fire & Rescue just one year later hit theaters. Whilst the second installment received slightly better reviews, it didn't manage to match the same profits as its predecessor.
6 Ghoulies (1985)
Luca Bercovici’s Ghoulies is often perceived as a cut-rate rip-off of Joe Dante’s hit film Gremlins, but both films were actually in production at the same time, with Ghoulies on track for an earlier release. However, funding issues delayed Ghoulies for a few months, which allowed Gremlins to be released first. So in a sense, Ghoulies was doomed from the start, forced to live in the shadows of a far superior - and much more successful - film.
It doesn’t help that the film is also pretty bad; with an 8% critic score and a 20% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, it didn’t seem like anyone liked the movie (although the film has since garnered a minor cult following). Still, the movie quadrupled its budget and was a relative success. A sequel was greenlit and released in 1987, which was even less of a success than its predecessor. This was followed by two direct-to-video sequels, one of which is called Ghoulies Go to College and features Matthew Lillard’s film debut.
5 The Blue Lagoon (1980)
Based on the novel of the same name, The Blue Lagoon is a romance-adventure movie that follows two children (who are also cousins) who get stranded together on a tropical island. They grow up, experience puberty, eventually fall in love, and even have a baby together.
Upon its release, the film was panned by critics for its ludicrous story and poor acting (it currently sits at 8% on Rotten Tomatoes). Furthermore, it elicited a lot of controversy, as Brooke Shields - who was fourteen at the time of filming - had a number of nude scenes, which were performed by an older body double but nevertheless sat uneasily with some viewers.
Still, The Blue Lagoon made close to $60 million at the box office, becoming North America’s ninth highest-grossing movie of 1980. And it was even nominated for an Academy Award for best cinematography. A sequel - titled Return to the Blue Lagoon - was released in 1991, where it absolutely bombed with critics and at the box office.
4 Bloodrayne (2005)
Movie adaptations of popular video games never turn out well. Just look at Doom, Max Payne, Assassin’s Creed, and the aforementioned Hitman movies. But very few come close to being as bad as BloodRayne. Directed by infamous schlock-master Uwe Boll - who does not have a good track record at bringing video games to the big screen - Bloodrayne follows a human-vampire hybrid who teams with a group of vampire hunters to bring down her evil father.
Despite a strong cast that includes the likes of Ben Kingsley, Michelle Rodriguez, and Udo Kier, Bloodrayne was torn apart by critics and fans of the videogame and currently sits at 4% of Rotten Tomatoes (with a 17% audience score). Not only was it poorly received, but the film only made $4 million at the box office against a $25 million budget. Despite Bloodrayne’s abject failure, Uwe Boll wanted to keep making movies in the universe. Two direct-to-video sequels were released in 2007 and 2011, each one cheaper and worse-received than the last.
3 Baby Geniuses (1999)
When reviewing the 1999 family comedy Baby Geniuses, Roger Ebert famously said: “bad films are easy to make, but a film as unpleasant as Baby Geniuses achieves a kind of grandeur.” He’s not wrong; this bizarre movie centers around a pair of scientists who believe “baby talk” holds unimaginable knowledge. In an effort to crack the baby-talk language and learn the secrets of the universe, they perform experiments on imprisoned “super babies," one of whom plans a rebellion against their evil captors.
Upon release, Baby Geniuses grossed $36 million worldwide against a $12 million budget; not exactly a smashing success, but money was made. And with a meager 2% critic score and 25% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, clearly no one was clamoring for a sequel. But like many movies of the era, Baby Geniuses found new success on the home video market, which led to the creation of an unwarranted sequel in 2004: Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2.
Impressively, the sequel turned out worse than its predecessor; it currently sits in the number four spot on IMDb’s very exclusive Bottom 100 list. And the movie was a box-office bomb, making $9 million worldwide. Despite these abysmal theatrical results, the film sold enough DVDs to warrant a number of cheap, direct-to-video sequels and even an Italian television series subtitled Baby Squad Investigators.
2 Grown Ups (2010)
Grown Ups is a comedy featuring Adam Sandler and many of his comedic friends. Childhood friends meet up after decades for the 4th of July following their coach's passing. Despite receiving some very negative reviews and scoring only 10% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film made its money back and then some, leading to a sequel.
Probably surprising nobody, Grown Ups 2 didn't receive particularly good reviews either, and scores even lower, with just 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film still managed to make its money back, though, and it seems like the group of friends genuinely enjoyed making these films, so it's hard to blame them for giving Grown Ups another go.
1 Left Behind (2014)
Left Behind is a religious apocalyptic thriller that centers around Nicolas Cage's Ray Steele, a commercial pilot who gets caught in the biblical rapture on a transatlantic flight to London. When it was released in 2014, the film was - to put it kindly - eviscerated by critics. It currently sits at a surprisingly rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, and is the lowest-rated movie on this list.
Despite how poorly the film was received, there is a built-in audience; it’s based on a popular book, which itself is part of a bestselling 16-book series. Not to mention the very dedicated fan base that most faith-based films have. As a result, the film made $27 million dollars at the worldwide box office - enough for executives to greenlight a sequel.
Contract negotiations delayed production for a long time, which forced the studio to replace the entire cast for the sequel. In 2023, almost a decade after the release of its predecessor, Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist - directed by and starring faith-based superstar Kevin Sorbo - was finally released into theaters.